A Sweet Revelation
by nytecat
Summary: It's Valentine's Day and Mai gets some romance advice from an unexpected source.


**Title: A Sweet Revelation**

_Author's note: Happy belated Valentine's Day. I figured that there would be many serious Valentine's Day fanfics so I thought I would try a comedy and as an added challenge below a 1,000 word limit. _

There was a certain electricity in the air. A spark of restrained excitement that flowed rampant through the throngs of people rushing to do their last minute Valentine's Day shopping.

Normally, Shizuru avoided shopping malls during the holidays. The crazy things I do for love, the university student thought to herself as she squeezed by several full shopping carts that blocked the supermarket aisles.

As she came around an aisle, she narrowly avoided a collision with a harried middle-aged business man carrying a large bouquet of flowers and bottle of wine. The business man realised his rudeness and sketched a short bow of apology. Shizuru dutifully returned it. As she was rising up from the bow, she heard a familiar voice call out her name.

"Shizuru!"

The woman turned to see Mikoto happily bounding up to her. The sable-haired girl was dressed in grey khakis and a white t-shirt featuring a red heart and pink lettering that read: 'Love is good'.

"Mikoto-chan, what are you doing here?" Shizuru asked her, tickled by the girl's t-shirt.

"Mai is cooking a special Valentine's Day dinner for me and Yuuichi!" Mikoto exclaimed, her golden eyes shining with unbridled joy. Shizuru wanted to laugh but restrained herself. Any mention of Mai's cooking was sure to do that. "Why are you here?"

"Me? Oh, I'm picking up a special dessert for me and Natsuki," the tall woman explained gaily, unconsciously brushing a lock behind an ear.

Reminded why she was in the accursed mall in the first place, Shizuru turned back to her mission and went to the frozen goods section. Mikoto tailed her curiously. The university student didn't mind at all, it was good to have some company in a sea of harried strangers. She studied the display for a moment then picked out a whipped cream can.

"Is whipped cream good to eat?" Mikoto asked in her usual enthusiastic manner, staring hungrily at the can. Shizuru quickly placed it in the safety of her empty hand basket. With the girl's notorious ravenous appetite, it was best not to take chances.

Taken aback by the girl's abrupt question, Shizuru laughed. "Yes, it is." Her eyes twinkled with cheeky mischief. "Especially on strawberries."

Mikoto eagerly absorbed that titbit of information. She gazed at the product rack as if looking upon ambrosia. Shizuru ached from not laughing at the girl's rapturous expression. Just then, Mai appeared around a corner, pushing a laden shopping cart.

"Mai, I want some whipped cream and strawberries!" Mikoto blasted the poor frazzled girl as she came up to them.

"What?" the redhead asked in surprise. Shizuru explained what she had said earlier. Mai sighed and shot the older woman an exasperated glance that said: 'Why do you always put me in situations like this?' Shizuru merely smiled an innocent smile. Mai scowled, not fooled at all by the woman's demeanour.

She felt a persistent tugging on her blouse sleeve. Biting back another sigh, the redhead looked down into Mikoto's wide puppy dog eyes. The girl had learnt that expression from the master, Shiho. Mai tried to steel her heart. Cuteness won. She sighed as she ruffled Mikoto's hair with a gruff fondness. "Oh, oh, alright. Go get some strawberries."

Mai was rewarded with a crushing hug before the girl charged off. Shizuru helpfully placed a can of whipped cream into Mai's shopping cart.

"Mikoto, wait!" Mai called after the demon cat as she raced off to the vegetables section. "Geez, she could at least have gotten some for you too," the redhead muttered in irritation.

"Ara, for me?" Shizuru asked in soft surprise.

Mai frowned in puzzlement, casting a surreptitious glance at the woman's almost barren hand basket. "Yes. You don't have any strawberries in your basket, Shizuru-san."

Shizuru suddenly looked coy. She laid a dainty hand to the side of her mouth, a faint blush staining her complexion. "Mai-san, Natsuki and I won't be eating the whipped cream with _strawberries_ tonight."

"Wha-wha-what?" Mai stuttered in confusion. Then felt her cheeks grow hot as she teased out the woman's meaning. She tried to shake the images that sprang up in her mind but failed miserably.

If Shizuru realised what Mai was thinking - and how could she not with Mai turning redder and redder by the second? – she gave no sign of it. She merely meandered to the next frozen goods section. Mai followed her mutely after the young woman reacquainted herself with the concept of breathing.

"This is good too," Shizuru cheerfully declared as she selected a chocolate syrup bottle and deposited it into her basket. "Natsuki has such a sweet tooth," she explained in a low, confidential voice. Her teasing smile grew salacious as Mai miraculously turned a deeper shade of crimson.

She took another one and placed it in Mai's shopping cart. "A special dessert for you and Tate," she breathed in a sotto voce into Mai's ear. "Best enjoy it after Mikoto's asleep."

With that, she left the shocked, furiously blushing girl. The woman breezed past Yuuichi as he emerged from out an aisle. He turned, wondering why the ex-President was chuckling to herself softly.

"Honey, are you alright? You're flushed," her boyfriend enquired worriedly as he put a large frozen chicken into the packed shopping cart.

The redhead blinked once, twice, thrice and seemed to recover her senses. She stared at her beau as if seeing him in a new light. What Yuuichi saw in her violet eyes made his heart beat faster and throat dry. Then she turned her fevered gaze to the rack of goods.

"Mai? Mai? That's too much chocolate!"


End file.
